Till the Stars Die Out
by SleepDeprivedFemale
Summary: Under a moonlit sky, two figures descend into an ancient catacomb where mysterious and long-forgotten rituals took place. A short story about Eibon, his wife Susie, and their different outlooks on life.


**Commissioned by KinGinSister at A03.**

**Timeline: Pre-canon.**

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

**Till the Stars Die Out **

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Panagiotis thought himself a brave man. During his childhood, he had been expected to care after his younger siblings as the eldest, reminding them that goblins and monsters and all other tall tales were merely that; figments of an imagination run wild. During his adulthood, after he'd repelled a gang of foreign troublemakers, he'd been dubbed an official guardsman for his village. Nowadays, past his prime but still with a hop in his step and a glint in his eyes, it was his duty to educate the newest generation of youngsters on how to defend themselves against the terrors that lurked in the dark.

Yet despite his age, despite his experience, it was with a rising dread and a clutching of his torch that Panagiotis approached the ancient ruins of Eleusina.

No one ventured here; the place was simply an area of collapsed and cracked marble, scattered across a small hill that overlooked the sea. There weren't treasures to loot or adventures to be had here on this weed-infested outcropping, even if the ruins stood eerily still as if trapped in time. The rumors that birds avoided landing here were mere superstitions spread by elderly ladies who had run out of gossip. Even the few disappearances that had occurred over the years when people ventured on that hill weren't out of the ordinary for a tiny village like them, so close to bigger settlements and ports.

As he reached the expansive yard-like area before the hill, Panagiotis extinguished his torch. He waited in the dark, clutching a dagger he normally used to skin the rare prey that wandered around the area -it was a common joke that Eleusina housed more ruins than living beings.

There, in the distance and up the hill; another light, flickering briefly before disappearing behind something.

So, people weren't imagining things this time. There had been reports of strange lights on the hill and Panagiotis had discounted them but apparently there was someone up there, on the very top of the ruins. The trespasser could be treasure hunters unfamiliar with the area, or the odd eccentric more interested in the past than the present, or…

A Witch, mingling with the pandemonium of entities once called upon on these ruins. And if the trespasser was a Witch and Panagiotis managed to get the drop on her… oh the honors that would be bestowed upon him-

Ahem. Most importantly he'd ensure his village's safety. Roaming witches were never good news.

After his eyes adjusted to the dark, Panagiotis navigated the ruins at ease -he'd patrolled the area more times than he could remember- and quietly reached the top of the hill. Besides the broken marbles and sun-dried weeds was the odd tree here or there; Panagiotis hid behind one, waiting.

He first heard a soft hum, then the scrunching of dried plants before he finally saw the light.

Carefully, Panagiotis peeked over his hiding spot and made out a small sack and a strange bulky lantern deposited close to a patch of wildflowers. Next to those seemingly-innocuous objects was…

She was turned away from him, thick black hair that reached her back, wearing only a soft thin light purple gown of a material Panagiotis didn't recognize. She was looking over the patch of wildflowers, her hand hovering over them, as if deciding which to pick.

Panagiotis fully emerged from his hiding spot, quietly approaching the woman, clutching his dagger tight behind his back. A Witch. She must be one. What other sane person would be at ancient ruins in midnight picking flowers? Perhaps she planned to use them for some horrible concoction or-

"_Bonsoir,_" the woman softly spoke as she turned to face him; though her features were warm and kind, Panagiotis knew better than to let his guard down.

Panagiotis took an involuntarily step back and she mirrored his movements, raising her hands in a pacifying gesture. "_Excuse-moi, je ne voulais pas vous d__é__ranger…"_ she softly spoke in a language Panagiotis didn't recognise, one where each syrupy word merged into the other.

Another thing caught Panagiotis' eye and he froze. The Witch's mannerisms were bizarre, but her appearance still resembled a human; he wouldn't dare describe as such the shadowy form that emerged behind her.

It rose high, higher than any other person Panagiotis had met, higher than any person should be. Thick robes trailed down from it, their colors barely perceptible from the woman's faint lantern but Panagiotis couldn't help but think of the reds as dried blood, the greens as a festering mold and the yellows as the pus draining out of a corpse. An icy blue glow filtered through the being's bizarre visor, though it was probably for the best that Panagiotis couldn't witness what else lay hidden underneath. The creature raised its hand, dragging the heavy robes with it and revealing an array of sharply-polished knives where its fingers should be.

Panagiotis dropped his knife and ran, faster than he had ever before, ignoring his straining heart and the sting of scratches as he clawed his way through sharp marble, dead branches and thorny weeds. He wasn't planning on stopping, even when he left the ruins, even when he reached his village. He didn't even want to be on the same landmass as that _thing_.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Susie watched the local's mad scramble with a crestfallen expression. Had she done something wrong? It was always hard to get through the language barrier but she had tried to make herself look as non-threatening as possible, even pretending she hadn't heard him advance up the hill. She didn't mean to disturb any of the locals with their presence...

Susie leaned back and found herself against something soft. She looked up to see-

Ah. That was probably what had scared the poor man.

Her face fell even further. "Eibon."

"My love."

Susie crossed her hands, fully aware that Eibon was trying to butter her up. "Dear, what did I tell you about scaring the locals?"

"I did not like the way he looked at you," Eibon said with a small pause. "Also, he had a knife. He tried to hide it from you, but I saw it."

Susie sighed. She hadn't noticed that. "He probably thought of us as intruders or some other unsavory sort." She gave Eibon a stubborn look. "You still could have talked to him and cleared up the misunderstanding instead of traumatizing the poor man."

"I don't see the need-" Eibon cut himself off as Susie gave him a long look. "But I suppose a translation spell wouldn't be so hard to perform, though there would still be no reassurance that he would believe us…" Susie's stare persisted and Eibon's frame eventually deflated. "Yes dear."

Her expression softening, Susie took his hand. With their fingers interlacing, flesh against metal -despite the apparent sharpness, Susie had never even gotten something as small as a scratch- she wrapped it around her frame. "You need to realize you can't solve of your problems via intimidation, _Monsieur_ Warlord…" She sighed again. "That and I need to tell Death to stop being such a bad influence…"

"He's trying too. Just not very good at it," Eibon said as he brought Susie closer. "Plus, I have an excellent mentor."

Susie couldn't help but smile. "Don't try to flatter your way out of this one." She reached behind the visor and placed her hand on the mask underneath. "But I know you're trying, dear, and I'm proud of you for that."

Eibon leaned in to her touch. "I couldn't ask for anything more."

Susie hummed in content as she turned around and their embrace turned into a light hug; or at least, as much as she could hug Eibon given his ludicrously high stature and considerable girth that came with it. The thick robes didn't help too.

Speaking of which, the area around them was warmer, warmer than they had expected. The reason they'd come to this place at night like thieves was because they'd expected the temperature to be lower than during the day, but Susie was already beginning to sweat, even with her satin dress. However, she didn't worry as much for herself as she did for Eibon; unlike her, he was cold-blooded and had a considerably lower body temperature -something that had initially puzzled Susie, but eventually grew accustomed to, like so many other things about him. During their hug she couldn't help but notice that his robes, or at least their outer layer, was growing warm…

"How are you feeling dear?" Susie asked, looking up at him. "It's not too warm, is it?"

"That shouldn't be a worry," Eibon hummed. "But, what better way to prove something than with a demonstration…"

Before Susie could respond, Eibon hugged her again, only this time pushing her further into his robes. Cool air emerged from underneath and Susie giggled like a small child as she was literally swept up her feet, with Eibon giving her a gentle twirl before depositing her back to the ground.

Well, someone was feeling playful tonight, in which case…

"What are you…?" Eibon trailed off as Susie lifted the outmost layer of his robe, the one which served more of a decorative purpose than a functional one, and ducked under it.

"Look at me dear," Susie said as she waved her arms, causing the light fabric to billow and flutter, accompanied by Eibon's light chuckle. "I am a ghost, albeit one with a terrible fashion sense-"

"You shouldn't joke about that," Eibon interjected, his tone somber.

Susie's playful failing stopped, and she emerged from the robes with a pout. Despite her best efforts, the topic of her mortality was still a sensitive one as far as Eibon was concerned. Susie didn't mind it - the reason she'd joked about it now like she had done many times before was in hopes of making light of the matter and easing Eibon into its acceptance. So far she'd been unsuccessful, unlike when it came to Eibon's cold demeanor towards other people. He didn't want it to be brought up at all, or, when it was brought up, referring to it as a weakness to be overcome.

It was the reason they were here after all, even if Eibon tried to obfuscate his true intentions. That and Susie supposed the two of them should stop being hermits and go out once in a while.

Besides, it wasn't as if Susie was against the concept of immortality, specifically as it related to her. It was an ever-present worry between the two, a thorn in their relationship that had never gone away and festered as time passed. She could see Eibon's perspective on this, the guilt over his own immortality and his vast abilities that, in Eibon's mind, justified his frantic search. But, if Susie's time was indeed limited, she thought it would be more appropriate to cherish it than chase ghosts. Not that this would be an easy revelation for Eibon.

Wordlessly, Eibon returned to rummaging around the ruins while Susie busied herself with the patch of wildflowers she'd found. There was a small bunch of chamomiles she'd considered plucking so she could make some tea when they returned home. However, the ones here seemed a bit different than the ones she'd seen before; were the chamomiles here a different strain?

Excited, Susie reached out to her pack near the lantern and took out a worn notebook. She flipped through sketches of plants, animals and sceneries she'd see while travelling around the globe with Eibon, sights it'd be a shame to confine only to her fleeting memory. She stopped at a page filed with chamomile sketches, where anatomical studies mingled with more artistic depictions of the flower.

Susie leaned closer into the flower patch and compared the chamomiles with the ones in her notes. Her excitement ebbed as he realized the flowers were almost identical, and that it was their smaller size that had her thinking they were dissimilar.

Susie pulled back with a sigh. So, the differences were probably due to her imagination. Though, perhaps the perceived discrepancies were caused by the different environments or climate-?

There was a crash from Eibon's direction and Susie shot up with a worried frown. Oh dear, had Eibon caused something to collapse? He was generally careful, but he always got too excited and even careless when he thought he was close to a discovery…

As Susie walked over to where Eibon was, she noticed a massive upturned slab of marble. Eibon stood by it, peering down at a tunnel that stretched down into lightless depths. One of his hands brushed the dirt away from the stone, metal scraping against marble, as his other hand trailed over the words inscribed behind the dirt.

"I've found it," Eibon breathlessly said, mostly focused on reading the carved letters. Susie looked over them too, but she couldn't read them; they weren't even from the same alphabet despite any surface similarities.

Susie sighed as she stared down at the hidden entrance. Hopefully this expedition wouldn't end like all others.

"The true site of the Eleusinian mysteries," Eibon muttered as she and Susie entered the underground passage.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Eibon couldn't help but stare into the dark depths as the two descended the ancient stairs, even as he held Susie's hand so none of them would trip. Despite the age of the ruins, with the stairs worn and the walls cracked with weeds and other overgrown vegetation, there was knowledge here to be uncovered. He could tell so much from the faded paintings stretching across the walls, depicting processions of people taking the same trip as them down into the depths.

As they descended further and further down, so deep that the moonlight vanished and light only came from the faint lantern Susie was holding, the ceiling stretched above them, arcing so high that it too became lost in the darkness. This place held impressive architecture considering the period this catacomb was built, and its sight would have any other human of this era gasping, but Eibon had seen grander and more confounding places.

Besides, his true aim wasn't to investigate the architecture -though he would like to note the details down, at least for archival purposes; no, there were other secrets hidden here, knowledge thought lost and locked away for centuries. Though the ruins were common knowledge for any of the era, few people even knew that ancient rites and rituals took place here, of unknown purpose and power. The secret rites were known as Eleusinian Mysteries -and amusingly enough the term Mysteries mean 'initiation into secret rites' than the current meaning of the word- of a cult to Demeter and Persephone. Eibon had stumbled across them while gathering literature about other ritual involving fertility, rebirth, and ascension, and the little knowledge about them captured his attention. Unlike all the other rituals which had turned out to be mere superstitions, these ones, with their nature concealed and their origin traced to prehistoric agrarian cults and spanning over two millennia, may have what he'd been looking for so long. If Eibon's guess was correct -and his guesses usually were- then this place may hold a puzzle piece in his search for immortality…

Susie let out a light sneeze -normally barely audible but now loud thanks to the echoing walls- and Eibon froze before turning to her and giving her a once-over. Had she gotten sick? The area wasn't too cold, but perhaps there was some localized disease Eibon had failed to account for -though they should have acted so fast, perhaps she had caught something earlier and Eibon hadn't noticed-, or perhaps it was the humidity that'd thrown her off, or even some invisible trap that had been triggered by him opening the gateway-

"It's just the dust, dear," Susie quickly answered and wiped her nose.

Only somewhat assured, Eibon turned back as the two continued their descent, occasionally glancing at her. It was true that the place was dusty, but he had to make sure she wouldn't manifest any other worrying behavior that may indicate unwellness. Perhaps it was a mistake to have this while excursion in the first place-

His thoughts were interrupted as Susie stepped forward, reaching the last stairs and entering the grand dome from which many corridors arched out, like the center of a maze. The ceiling was still hidden in darkness, and Eibon's attention was drawn to the massive statue in the middle. As if untouched by time, the statue stood tall and undamaged, the paints still bright and lustrous as if they'd been applied mere hours ago. The statue itself was rather ordinary by Eibon's standards, displaying one group of humans triumphing over the other- Wait.

The defeated group of humans spotted particular outfits and accessories, as well as being bigger in size than their victors. One of the women held on a broken spear and a cracked hoplite helmet, a man's arm was disfigured and scorched as if hit by lightning, another seemed to drown in air…

How promising._ How interesting-_

Eibon became distracted by the sound of scribbling and he let out a sigh. He turned to see Susie making a rough sketch of the statue. Eibon would have to ask her to show him later. He loved seeing her drawings, though early peeks at her sketches always made her blush. Eibon could empathize as he also felt a creeping awkwardness whenever she peeked on his drafts.

While Susie busied herself Eibon looked around at the passage ways lining the dome-shaped room. Or at least he tried too; the area was still too dark and Susie was using the lantern to get a better view of the central statue.

Eibon brought two of his fingers together and grinded them against each other, in an imitation of a snap. Sparks erupted where metal met metal, and each one flew across the room, igniting long-forgotten concave reliefs meant for torches and bathing the room in an orange glow.

"Thank you dear," Susie hummed, not looking up from her notebook. She must have gotten used to this simple spell by now, though the memory of her spooked surprise when Eibon first performed such a simple incantation always brought a smile on his face.

Eibon reached one of the stretching hallways and peeked inside. There were more paintings and reliefs, as well as some inscriptions, but all concerned the bureaucratical manners of the cult. Subsequent quick glances at other hallways yielded similar information only for different rituals, each one more frustrating than the other.

Eibon stopped at another hallway that terminated at a larger unseen dome. Unlike the rest, the hallways were bas reliefs of plentiful orchards, a diverse array of animals and a couple of humans, led by a… giant pregnant woman? All of them were naked too, and the inscriptions made comprehensive mentions of…

Oh dear.

"Need a light?" came Susie's voice from behind. Before Eibon could warn her, she had walked past him and reached a smaller dome-like room at the end of the hallway. Eibon waited for the inevitable.

Susie's humming stopped, followed by a soft 'oh'.

With a sigh, Eibon walked up to her and glanced at her increasingly red face, pursed lips and slightly wide eyes as she looked around her.

Not that Eibon could blame her; the set of… drawings that decorated the center of the dome, were very explicit, for lack of a better term. And diverse. And imaginative, _was that a pulley mechanism_-?

Susie let out a small cough as she glanced down at what once must have been a set of beds and recliners and walked out the room, Eibon trailing behind.

Well, they were both mature adults here. And Eibon supposed a cult about a fertility Goddess would concern itself with matters of the flesh…

"I suppose that won't warrant an entry into your notes?" Eibon asked Susie, trying to make conversation. "Or will it?" Wait no, _implications_, but it wasn't as if the two of them were unfamiliar with-

Susie's blush became brighter and she rubbed her face. "_You__'__re the worst, mon amour_."

Suppressing a laugh, the two continued exploring the hallways, though with more care. After more dead-ends, they finally came across a hallway that led to a triple-locked door. After carefully picking it up, its hinges broken by time and rust, and placing it on the side, they came across a staircase like the one they'd descended from. Finally, the staircase unwound into another wide hallway and terminated in a set of massive stone doors that blocked their way, forming an elaborate gate carved from the rock.

Eibon walked up to the doors. There must be an unlocking mechanism somewhere, though it may be rotten by now. Not that it mattered, since Eibon could break apart the gate himself, but this was an archaeological site and he was no vandal. Perhaps Eibon could jam some of his fingers in the small cracks between the door slabs and push them apart, or decrease the pressure inside the area and force them open, though he'd have to warn Susie beforehand-

The sound of scribbling distracted him again and he turned around to see Susie sketching again. It was strange, considering how plain the area was; had she noticed something Eibon hadn't?

Curiosity overpowering him, Eibon tried to sidle up next to her and peek. Key word being 'tried' for Susie took note, placed her hand over her sketch, and maneuvered away. Still curious, Eibon leaned in again to catch a glimpse but Susie got out of the way again, almost twirling around him.

Normally Eibon would stop, as he didn't need to be told a third time, but a barely surpassed giggle from Susie paused him to reconsider. Just what on Earth was she drawing?

"Patience…" Susie hummed as she kept sketching, as if she could read his thoughts. Well, Susie might as well be able to, since she was one of the few people familiar enough with Eibon to decode his body language.

"That only makes me more curious," Eibon replied. He stayed where he was, but couldn't resist tapping his fingers in impatience.

With one final stroke, Susie looked over her sketch, placed her pencil away, and handed her notebook to Eibon.

Eibon carefully held the notebook close, noting that her drawing was indeed of this room. Specifically, it was a sketch of the corridor and the massive gate, with an interesting foreshortened perspective as to make everything fit on the page. However, Eibon was there too, facing away from the gate.

Eibon tilted his head in confusion. "Why am I in your sketch? Is your goal an archival image-?"

Susie laughed again. "It's a drawing of you, silly. Of our travels together."

…Oh. How nice.

As Eibon stared at Susie's sketch -she had put in a lot of care, the level of detail was superb- he got an idea. "Then in this case, may I add something as well?"

Susie frowned but handed him a set of pencils. "Sure."

"Excellent," Eibon replied and started sketching as well. Susie tried to peek too, but it was Eibon's turn to act flustered and pull away. Plus, he also had a height advantage, though Susie may try and climb him using his robes, she was crafty like that…

Yet Susie waited for him to finfish patiently, and Eibon was glad. He would need some time to get his design perfect. His drawing style was different with more flowing lines than her rough pencil work, but he hoped she would like it.

Eibon had tried making a drawing on this subject matter before, but he'd never been satisfied with the result. Something was always missing, no matter if he tried sketching the soul, if he made the drawing move, if he tried all sorts of different colors and materials, but something was always off, never complete…

"That's me," Susie said and Eibon realized he'd stopped and lowered the notebook. The sketch of Susie next to his form was, once again, incomplete.

But Susie liked it, and that was enough for now.

"Of course," Eibon said as he handed Susie her notebook back. "Any drawing of me would be incomplete without you, dear."

There was a small pause where Susie blushed again, and Eibon mentally congratulated himself on a remark well made. However, he was woefully unprepared when Susie went on her tiptoes, reached behind Eibon's visor and kissed on the side of his mask.

…Oh dear, now it was him who was overheating-

The gate behind them creaked open with a terrible booming sound, the stone gathering and swiping the cracked uneven floor underneath, like a broom to dust.

Eibon and Susie stared at the door. Then Eibon looked down at his hands, where the last remnants of a red hue faded away.

Ah, accidental spellcasting. He sometimes did that when flustered. This one was surprisingly helpful, and oddly poetic considering what triggered it.

Beyond the gate came a faint green glow. Eibon carefully approached the final chamber in the underground compound passage with Susie in tow. The room inside was bare of furniture and decor, sans an obelisk at the center, covered from its base to its tip in engravings. The obelisk was pitch black in color, though hued green from the glow that came from the jagged ceiling. Looking up, Eibon noted that the entire top part of the room had been covered by a light-emitting film; perhaps a colony of bioluminescent bacteria. Eibon would have to investigate that at a later date.

Eibon waited before approaching the obelisk and motioned for Susie to be careful too; there was no telling if this place contained any traps. With a wave of his hand he summoned a transparent bubble-like shield for him and Susie, making sure to reinforce it against any type of damage he could imagine. The spell made him feel drowsy, but it was worth it. His other option would be constructing some sort if dummy to navigate the area which would be just as costly energy-wise, or have one of them venture in. Making Susie do so was out of the question and Eibon, though made of sturdier material than the average human, was still mortal in that aspect. His -only- choice would be Death, but they weren't here, and they were always less than pleased when acting as trap bait.

With their shields up, Eibon tentatively approached the obelisk, ready to jump back and pull Susie along if anything happened.

…Nothing. Eibon reached the basilisk, traced his hand over it, and nothing happened. The area around them was as dead as they came.

"Guess we're being paranoid," Susie said with an uneasy smile.

"No such thing," Eibon commented as he observed the basilisk. The engravings were letters, carved deeply and carefully into the basalt, packed densely and lacking any reliefs or superfluous decorative details. From the words Eibon could make out they were arranged in the typical manner for ancient Greek, left-to-right, top-to-bottom fashion, with no spaces between words.

Eibon floated -he had used a surprising amount of magic for such a small-scale excursion- to reach the top of the obelisk. The first line warned the reader to steel their mind in expectation of all the powerful rituals, forbidden knowledge and timeless wisdom contained within, a warning that made Eibon borderline giddy. Finally, the mysteries would be his to unveil, his long search would be over, his troubles resolved…

Susie kept quiet as Eibon read through the engravings. His initial excitement and hope faded into a growing dread at the words, describing the so-called mysteries as mere parlor tricks, things Eibon could do -and in the case of a nightmare had done - in his sleep. The so-called powerful rituals were shapeshifting magic, as basic as one could come across, as well as mere displays of light. The so-called forbidden knowledge were snippets merely hinting at the existence of a Great Old Ones, not even fit for a barebones introduction to the topic. The so-called timeless wisdom was old forgotten superstitions or purposefully vague and faux-motivational sayings. All of them useless, nonsensical and worst of all, misleading.

There was nothing about gaining the powers of Gods here. Nothing about transcending humanity's fallible nature.

Nothing about immortality.

Wordlessly, Eibon floated back onto the floor. Another dead-end. Another case where his excitement got the best of him. Another consequence of misapplied great expectations.

…It was such a strange concept, mortality. Even funny, in a macabre way; the knowledge of one's demise, and the knowledge that nothing to very little could be done with it. Perhaps one would be able to postpone it, but never able to prevent it completely.

Horrifying, really. Not something Eibon had pondered much until Susie had entered his life.

Eibon would like to have words with whoever, whatever, was responsible for mortality. Initially, Eibon had thought said being was Death, but it soon turned out that they weren't so much the cause of it, but rather managing the process, much to their ever-present anxiety. No, the true culprit still evaded him… or possibly had never existed. Just another chilling result of a broken, rotting universe, a result of badly-cobbled systems interacting with each other in a mad rhythm, still incomprehensible to Eibon despite his best attempts…

With a jolt of frustration, Eibon swiped at the obelisk, his metal fingers leaving deep scratches into the previously smooth stone.

"Eibon!" came Susie's startled voice as she dashed to his side. "Are you ok- did something happen?"

"…Nothing," Eibon said after some time. "It's nothing."

He looked up at the scratched obelisk, now just another monument to a dreaded and impending failure.

"It's always nothing."

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Susie let out a content sigh as she plopped down in Eibon's embrace. Eibon too was resting against a large marble slab that could be viewed as a recliner if one squinted a lot and had plenty of beer.

Susie shifted, making herself comfortable on Eibon's robes. They were padded, making her feel as if she was pushing against a pillow. They always smelled fresh too, as if they'd been just been washed. She didn't know how Eibon could do that, and it only calmed her more.

Speaking of relaxing, Susie craned her head to look up at Eibon. He had removed his visor and was looking up at the sky, the expression on his mask blank.

Susie followed his gaze to the cloudless sky. Eibon's outburst at the Temple wasn't a freak occurrence. He had become increasingly worried over the last couple of years, and it wasn't as if Susie hadn't given him reasons to worry. From the time she'd fallen awkwardly during one of their excursions and broke her leg to a nasty case of pneumonia she'd caught and had to stay in bed for a month, Susie's constitution was delicate.

But there were other incidents, ones that Susie paid them little attention to but ones that caused Eibon to go silent for long periods on time and fall back on his studies like a man possessed. Whether it was a few grey hairs she'd gotten due to stress, to her needing less sleep, to her smile lines slowly turning into wrinkles, all signs that reminded Susie that she was growing older, as it happens with everyone -or from what she knew now, almost everyone- were perceived by Eibon with a growing dread.

And now… Eibon always relaxed when he and Susie spent time together, especially outside of their house. Susie had used it as a de-stressor whenever Eibon got too bogged down in his studies, and Eibon occasionally suggested they go on vacation around the world, something that always excited Susie when she got too bogged down with routine. Hopefully this little stargazing break would help them both.

Susie stared at the starry sky; there was no light pollution here as the closest village kept a considerable distance from the hill. Clouds were scarce too, revealing countless stars, and if she focused hard enough, the stars coalesced into forming a large line that run through the sky. One of the spirals of their galaxy, Eibon had told her, one of at least a trillion sites each containing billions of stars, adding up to an unfathomable number of worlds…

And here they were, against all odds. Together, staring up at the infinite possibilities of their universe.

Susie raised a hand over the sky, blocking her view of some stars, and clenching it as if she could grab them. "They're…"

"Dead," came Eibon's voice.

Susie didn't stop staring up at the sky. She recalled Eibon telling her that even light has a speed, and that many of the stars in the sky do not exist anymore, and that it is only that the light they emitted long ago still travels their universe, a grim reminder of what they once were and what awaits their kin and any lesser lifeforms staring in wonder. At that time it had been one of Eibon's attempts to push her away as he had done with so many people, to send their mind reeling at their insignificance and instill so deep a revulsion that they wouldn't dare bother him again, that the purveyor of the Madness of Knowledge would rather shatter one's mind than play into their schemes.

Eibon's resulting look of utter surprise and confusion when Susie replied with an awed look and asked for more information was a memory that always made her chuckle.

All the others that had sought Eibon out were nobles, scholars, rich men of power so assured in their significance that they wouldn't dare imagine their position to be nothing more than a series of meaningless constructs, inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. The revelation of their immateriality, of the cosmos' indifference to them was mind-shattering because they had led lives with spurious challenges that only reinforced their importance, coddled by the very systems they constructed and strengthened. Unimportance was inconceivable.

But, Susie had already faced powerlessness, as did so many other ordinary people, people that had lived their lives subservient to others, often in unseen ways, whether it was their job, their country, or something else in Eibon's aforementioned list of 'meaningless constructs'. To Susie, to those that had seen past the veil, immateriality was just another fact of life.

Eibon often called her special, but Susie didn't think of herself as such. It was simply that Eibon liked to isolate and cloud himself in myths that attracted the wrong crowd.

In fact, Susie more readily accepted people calling her weak, both mentally and physically. Part of her acceptance of such terms was because of her own insecurity and resulting deprecation, both aspects of her that she was trying to improve upon, but also because she didn't view these terms as negative in the first place.

Her physical weakness was just another fact about her, often overstated, even by Ebon who should know better, often used as derision or an excuse for people not to take her seriously. For Susie though, her physical strength -or rather lack thereof- was just a part about her that she had to navigate and consider, equivalent to the fact that her hair tangled easily so she braided them before sleeping.

Her so-called mental weakness was something she'd learned not to argue with people who'd called her such in the first place. To them, kindness and empathy were categorized as fundamentally weak by a false worldview, the same worldview that constructed a spurious strength that shattered upon contact with the true vastness and indifference of reality. The ones that had encountered that truth and still insisted on the inherent weakness of kindness and empathy, had simply let the revelation trap them in a mental loop that often ended in tragedy.

Susie could only pity them. Unlike their presumptions, she knew how cruel the world could be, she had experienced it and still bore the marks it left on her back. To her, it was one thing to cry, but another to keep going even if crying along the way. To understand one's insignificance in the big scheme of things but still try their best for them and for the people they loved. To not give up, to face the inevitable demise with a smile and a firm attitude. Not to lay down and die, but to stand tall and face life, even in knowledge of its short and fleeting nature, simply because one can do that. To not go gentle into that quiet night, but rage, rage against the dying light. In Susie's mind that's where true strength lay.

…Unfortunately, a lot of people didn't understand her point of view. Even Eibon had trouble with it sometimes, absorbed in a vague goal of collecting knowledge for the sake of it and disregard its useful applications and ethical conundrums, not to mention all their recent 'expeditions'.

If Susie wanted to be a bit more cynical than usual, she supposed Eibon and the rest of the Great Old Ones had fallen into the same trap they often sprung up for humans. Their reminders of humanity's insignificance did not reflect of them; no, they were supposedly aware of all the cosmic machinations, and even had control over them. Unlike humanity, _they_ were _significant_.

Or so they thought.

Death could _definitely_ stop the deluge of soul eaters, even if new ones kept popping up, even if in their quest to do so, they had made an enemy of the Witches. Because, at the end of the day, the Witches were just a slightly more powerful type of human, right? Nothing compared to the might of Death themselves, right? Eibon could _definitely_ find the secret of immortality, even if he kept encountering dead ends. After all, one must fail to get closer to success no matter what the goal was, apparently. There was a satisfying resolution to any problem, and nothing that couldn't be overcome, right? They were the all-powerful Great Old Ones after all, and the world was their oyster. They had even come together to form the Eight Warlords because they had encountered 'difficulties' in their quests. Which were going perfectly well, if you asked them, despite the lack of results.

…Sometimes Susie couldn't help but wonder if Eibon's worry was misplaced.

In any case, what was Eibon trying to accomplish by saying that the stars were dead? Was it simply a result of his gloomy mood? A simple tactless observation? A grim reminder of the very thing he was trying to accomplish, of a fabled immortality that Susie wouldn't mind having, but something she didn't actively pursue?

An unintentional omen?

With one hand still outreached at the sky, Susie reached out with her other and intertwined it with Eibon's. "Dead or not, it's still a beautiful sight."


End file.
